Picture of the Day, 5-3-07

I was not aware of Westinghouses' history so I thought I would share....

"Westinghouse Electric entered the appliance industry by acquiring Copeman Electric Stove Company in 1917. It moved production to Mansfield, Ohio. Copeman had begun manufacturing its first electric ranges in 1914. Electric ranges were first demonstrated by Thomas Ahearn in in 1892, gained in popularity as electrification became widespread throughout the United States.

White-Westinghouse home appliance company was formed by the acquisition of the Westinghouse Electric Corporation's appliance unit by White Consolidated Industries in 1975. White Consolidated Industries was subsequently acquired by Electrolux in 1986.

The company claims to have made several important innovations:
1930s refrigerators with sealed refrigeration units
1930s room air conditioners
1930s portable dishwashers
1939 automatic washing machine that was not bolted to the floor.
1950s frost-free refrigerators.
The company manufactured both large and small appliances for many years. Currently appliances bearing the Westinghouse or White-Westinghouse name are made under license."

And now for my 2 cents: About 15 years ago I was renting a townhouse that had a stacked Westinghouse front load W & D. I'm not sure of the year but would guess 1970's. The washer was the always running, constant speed as soon as you start it version AND it actually had a water level adjustment!! It also had the loud, clunky solenoid that engaged the spin.... fun to watch.

After a couple years, it started leaking (a rust hole in the outer drum). My landlord replaced it with a new machine (around $650 at that time!!!). The new one looked almost exactly like the old one externally, but this was a completely MODERN machine on the inside!!! It had a fixed (lower) water level, variable speed DC motor, reversing tumble wash action and a 450, then 650 RPM final spin... MORE fun to watch!!!


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Post# 208031 5/3/2007 at 10:54 (6,202 days old) by manoravenue ()
Checkrate/Likes Does today's picture show the 1964 or 1965 Westinghouse? The Laundromat is exactly the one we had after the slant-front 1953. I am thinking today's picture is showing the 1965 model, but can't recall.

Post# 208069 , Reply# 1 5/3/2007 at 14:00 (6,202 days old) by hydralique (Los Angeles)
Checkrate/Likes *What beautiful machines!* I've always been fascinated by the front-load Westies, and was wondering what year those in the POD were too. When I was a kid the neighbors across the street had a dusty, unused and probably perfect set of slant-front Laundromats. The reason for this is that they owned and maintained three actual Laundromats (all with top-loaders of some sort) and so the family wash was always used to check the operation of any machines in question. How many years did Westinghouse make the full size front-loaders after they quit the slant-fronts, and when did they finally capitulate and start making ordinary top loaders?

Post# 208083 , Reply# 2 5/3/2007 at 15:58 (6,202 days old) by rinso (Meridian Idaho)
Checkrate/Likes I think Westinghouse continued to make it's front-load machines even when they brought out their line of top-loaders.

Post# 208092 , Reply# 3 5/3/2007 at 18:29 (6,201 days old) by jeb (Mansfield Ohiio)
Checkrate/Likes *Westinghouse front loader* Westinghouse made front loaders until the very end (when they were bought by White consolidated). The first Westinghouse top loader where not made by Westinghouse they were bought from another company and had the Westinghouse name put on them. They did this because the sales department were getting demands from salesmen to give them a line of toploaders to keep up with competitors. In the sixtys they came up with the C.P.A. (center post agitator) line of real Westinghouse toploader.

Post# 208111 , Reply# 4 5/3/2007 at 21:08 (6,201 days old) by gansky1 (Omaha, The Home of the TV Dinner!)
Checkrate/Likes In 1963 Westinghouse sourced a top-loader from Easy with the Velva-Power transmission and then introduced their own top-loader in 1964. Consumer Reports loved the new Westinghouse when it was first rated, but reliability waned and the ratings fell to nearly dead-last (right above Speed Queen) for years!

Post# 208337 , Reply# 5 5/5/2007 at 10:12 (6,200 days old) by revvinkevin (Tinseltown - Shakey Town - La-La Land)
Checkrate/Likes *Westinghouse History and my 2 cents....* I was not aware of Westinghouses' history so I thought I would share.... "Westinghouse Electric entered the appliance industry by acquiring Copeman Electric Stove Company in 1917. It moved production to Mansfield, Ohio. Copeman had begun manufacturing its first electric ranges in 1914. Electric ranges were first demonstrated by Thomas Ahearn in in 1892, gained in popularity as electrification became widespread throughout the United States. White-Westinghouse home appliance company was formed by the acquisition of the Westinghouse Electric Corporation's appliance unit by White Consolidated Industries in 1975. White Consolidated Industries was subsequently acquired by Electrolux in 1986. The company claims to have made several important innovations: 1930s refrigerators with sealed refrigeration units 1930s room air conditioners 1930s portable dishwashers 1939 automatic washing machine that was not bolted to the floor. 1950s frost-free refrigerators. The company manufactured both large and small appliances for many years. Currently appliances bearing the Westinghouse or White-Westinghouse name are made under license." And now for my 2 cents: About 15 years ago I was renting a townhouse that had a stacked Westinghouse front load W & D. I'm not sure of the year but would guess 1970's. The washer was the always running, constant speed as soon as you start it version AND it actually had a water level adjustment!! It also had the loud, clunky solenoid that engaged the spin.... fun to watch. After a couple years, it started leaking (a rust hole in the outer drum). My landlord replaced it with a new machine (around $650 at that time!!!). The new one looked almost exactly like the old one externally, but this was a completely MODERN machine on the inside!!! It had a fixed (lower) water level, variable speed DC motor, reversing tumble wash action and a 450, then 650 RPM final spin... MORE fun to watch!!!